Garment fastener



July 19, 1966 P. N. GURNEY GARMENT FASTENER Filed Aug, 24, 1954 United States Patent C) 3,261,068 GARMENT FASTENER Patricia N. Gurney, 512 S. Hobart Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. Filed Aug. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 391,607 3 Claims. (Cl. 24-203) This invention relates to fastening means for garments and fabrics, and consists of a unique fastening means for releasably fastening or securing together free edge portions of garments and the like.

At the present time, the general and most common types of fastening devices still in use are buttons in combination with button holes and the well-known zipper. With ythe delicate designs and fabrics which are now being used for garments, there has been created numerous problems. The button and the button hole combination become very hard to manage where a design of a garment calls for a fastening device not to be visible on the garment and yet provide fastening means for the free edge portions of a garment which are operable for easy and quick securing or fastening together the free edge portions of said garment and to easily and quickly unfasten or release them. There arises also the problem with the above mentioned fastening devices such as bulging of the material when the free edges of the garment are secured together. A further observation has been made that due to the bulges created by the inadequate fastening devices, it becomes a very delicate and tedious operation to press or iron garments without leaving marks on the material. Due to these marks, considerable amount of time is wasted plus a considerable amount of labor. It is also well to note that the time and labor used to accurately secure buttons, the making and aligning of button holes becomes a costly operation due to the requirements of the fabrics as well as designs. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide fastening means for garments that will solve these problems.

It is another object of the invention to provide fasteners or fastening means that will hold the free edges of a garment securely together without causing bulging of the material and at the same time eliminate the problem of having marks left on the materials from pressing or ironing due to the elimination of the bulges by the present invention. Y

It is still another object of the invention to provide devices of this character that are easy to apply and secure either singly, in series, or groups, thereby becoming a labor and time-saving device with an added advantage of being inexpensive to manufacture.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide fasteners of this character that when parts of a garment are secured together, they then become invisible from the exterior of the garment thereby aiding and advancing new designs and fabrics.

Many fastening means used at the present time have a tendency to become stuck or are located in such a manner that help is required to fasten or unfasten the device depending on whatever the case may be. Due to the simplicity in design of the present invention, this problem has been eliminated so that no help is needed either to fasten or unfasten a garment.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention are further sufficiently referred to in connection with the following detailed description of the accompanying drawings, which represent certain embodiments. After considering ice these examples, skilled persons will understand that variations may `be made Without departing from the principles disclosed and I contemplate the employment of any structures, arrangements, or modes of operation that are properly within the scope of the appended claims.

Referring more particularly to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:

FIG. 1 is a plan view in elevation of a garment showing the preferred embodiment of the fastening means in use;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the buttons secured to one free edge of the garment;

FIG. 3 is an elevational View showing the second member of the fastening means which the buttons are releasably secured to;

FIG. 4 is a sectional View taken on line 4 4 of FIG. l; and

FIG. 5 is an elevational plan view of an alternative arrangement ofthe second member for a securing means.

VReferring more particularly to FIG. l, there. is illustrated a garment 10 which in this particular case is a womans blouse. This garment is a conventional style having free edge portions 12 and 14, respectively, which overlap one another in a conventional manner and which are fixed in this position by fastening means generally indicated at 16.

Fastening means 16 is comprised of two parts, one being a thin, flat, round button-like member 18 located and attached to ythe underside of the free edge portion 12 as shown lin detail in FIG. 2. The button 18 may be secured in many known ways but the preferred fastening means is -by sewing in a normal mannerwhich is shown at 20 adjacent the center of the button thereby securing said button to one of the free edges of the garment.

Since the buttons are to be subjected to washing, ironing and other various cleaning processes, the materials best suited are those in the plastic field, such as nylon, or a Teflon material, Teflon being Du Ponts registered trademark for its family of iluorocarbon resins, including TFE (tetrafluoroethylene) resins and FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene) resins.

A thin, light 'metal such as aluminum can also be used, but only where the specific designs of a garment or garments call for this material.

In FIG. 3 there is shown the second member 22 of the fastening means attached to the other free edge portion 14 of thegarment 10. The member 22 is comprised of a quadrilateral piece of material, said piece of material being flat, thin, and flexible.

Inwardly from the lead-ing free edge 24 of the member 2.2 vand centrally positioned between the edges 26 and 28, respectively, is a notch or recess generally indicated at 30. Said notch or recess 30 comprises an enla-rged opening or mouth 31 formed from the leading edge 24 and side walls 32 and 33, respectively, of the notch 30. The side walls converge inwardly terminating at a base portion 34, said base pontion being semicircular in shape as shown in FIG. 3. It is also to be noted that this arrangement of a substantially V-shaped notch 30 facilitates the ease for quickly fastening and unfastening of button 18 as well as centrally locating said button causing the following adjacent buttons to align themselves with their corresponding members and again assuring simplicity, smoothness and convenience in fastening and unfastening garments that Wo-uld normally require some sort of help. The attachment of the member 22 is made along the free edges 26 and 28, respectively, by sewing, as clearly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 by the stitching 36.

lSince the edges are secured by stitching 36, vit can be seen in FIG. 4 that a pocket or compartment 3'8 is formed by the member 22 and the portion of the garment beneath said member, said pocket being adapted to receive the button 18 when said button is slid beneath the member 22 thereby hooking the button in place with the means for securing the button disposed in the V-shaped notch 30 in order to fasten together the free edges of the garments as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. This second member is also made of materials described above for the rst member 18. Such materials make this device easy to -apply either singly or in series.

Referring now to FIG. .which shows an alternative arrangement of the second member of the invention. This particular arrangement consis-ts of a series of equally spaced V-shaped notches 40 along the leading free edge 42 of the elongated piece of flexible material 44. Securing of the said elongated piece 44 can be done in any manner suitable to the specific material used, but is shown as stitching 46 being disposed at equal distance between said notches 40 thereby forming receiving areas or pockets for reception of respective buttons, the securing means of said buttons are received in respective notches in the same manner as the receiving means of the buttons are received in the notches of the members 22 -as described above.

The invention and its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof or sacrificing its material advantages, the arrangement hereinbefore described being merely by way of example and I do not wish t-o be restricted to the specic form shown or uses mentioned except as `defined in the accompanying claims, wherein various portions have been separated for clarity of reading and not for emphasis.

I claim:

1. The combination of (A) a garment having -free edge portions terminating at one side ina free edge;

(B) a fastening means for releasably securing together said free edge portions of said garment, said fastening means comprising: l

(a) a multi-sided piece of thin, flexible material having a V-shaped notch extending inwardly of said piece from one side thereof,

(b) means securing edge portions of said piece of material to one of said free edge portions of the garment, said securing means being at the sides of said V-shaped notch, said piece of material forming with the portion of the garment thereunder a button receiving pocket;

(c) av thin, round, button;

(-d) and, means adjacent the center of the button securing said button yto the other -free edge portion of said garment and'in alignment with the V-shaped notch of said piece of material,

(e) said button being adapted to be removably disposed beneath said piece of material with the fastening means for said button positioned in said V-shaped notch.

2. The combination of:

(A) a garment having'free edge portions terminating at one side in a free edge;

(B) the fastening means for releasably securing together said free edge' portions of said garment, said 'fastening means comprising:

(a) a multi-sided piece of thin, flexible plastic material having a V-shaped notch extending inwardly of said piece from one side thereof;

(b) stitching threads securing edge portions of said piece of ymaterial to one of said free edge portions of the garment, said threads being at the sides of said V-shaped notch, said piece of material, forming with the portion of the garment thereunder a button receiving pocket;

(c) a thin, round button of a plas-tic material;

(d) the stitching threads adjacent the center of the button securing said button to the other free edge portion of said garment and in alignment with the V-shaped notch of said piece of material,

(e) said button being adapted to be removably disposed beneath said piece of material with the stitching threads for said button positioned in said V-shaped notch.-

3. The combination of:

(A) a fabric having free edge portions terminating at one side in a free edge;

(B) a fastening means for releasably securing together said free edge portions, of said fabric, said ffastening means comprising:1

(a) an elongated multi-sided piece of thin, flat flexible material having `a plurality of equally :spaced V-shaped notches extending inwardly :from one side;

(b) means securing said piece at 4one 0f said free edge portions of the fabric, said means extending across the width of said piece and being positioned between each of said notches, thereby forming a button-receiving pocket under each notch;

(C) and a plurality of round thin at buttons for attaching the other free edge portion of said fabric;

(a) and means adjacent the center of each button securing each button to the other free edge portion of said fabric, said buttons being adapted to be positioned in a matching relationship with said V-shaped notches whereby said buttons may be positioned to be removably disposed beneath said elongated material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 53,331 3/1866 Pickett. 1,155,554 10/1915 Eckas 24-222 1,960,165 5/1934 Ottinger 2--128 2,713,684 7/1955 Yeboles 2-128 FOREIGN PATENTS 791,944 12/1925` France. 961,971 4/ 1957 Germany.

`EDWARD C. ALLEN, Primary Examiner.

B, A, GELAK, Assistant Examiner. 

1. THE COMBINATION OF: (A) A GARMENT HAVING FREE EDGE PORTIONS TERMINATING AT ONE SIDE IN A FREE EDGE; (B) A FASTENING MEANS FOR RELEASABLY SECURING TOGETHER SAID FREE EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID GARMENT, SAID FASTENING MEANS COMPRISING: (A) A MULTI-SIDED PIECE OF THIN, FLEXIBLE MATERIAL HAVING A V-SHAPED NOTCH EXTENDING INWARDLY OF SAID PIECE FROM ONE SIDE THEREOF, (B) MEANS SECURING EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID PIECE OF MATERIAL TO ONE OF SAID FREE EDGE PORTIONS OF THE GARMENT, SAID SECURING MEANS BEING AT THE SIDES OF SAID V-SHAPED NOTCH, SAID PIECE OF MATE RIAL FORMING WITH THE PORTION OF THE GARMENT THEREUNDER A BUTTON RECEIVING POCKET; 